Latest news with #RichardWorley
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Baltimore Police Department hiring more officers to cut down on overtime, commissioner says
The Baltimore Police Department has made strides to address the vacancies contributing to excessive officer overtime, Commissioner Richard Worley told members of the Baltimore City Council Tuesday night. Recent staffing shortages have forced first responders across Baltimore to work copious amounts of overtime, taking a toll on both employee morale and city budgets. BPD spent $64 million on overtime in the 2024 calendar year, and the city's total overtime burden could reach $150 million in 2025, a May 22 hearing revealed. Clearly expecting the council to grill him on the issue on Tuesday, Worley touted BPD's hiring efforts. The commissioner said his department has hired 47 new sworn officers, bringing its total to 2,023 after dipping below 2,000 officers last October. He also noted that applications for new officers are up 22% from last year. BPD currently has 492 vacancies, but expects about 150 potential officers to graduate from its police academy by the end of 2025. An expansive ad campaign to recruit new officers from within the city is now in effect and will further boost recruitment, Worley said. 'By the early part of next year, I think we're going to be up close to where we only have about 350 vacancies, and it continues on that trend. In three or four years, we'll be up where we should be, which is 2,500 [sworn officers],' Workley said. City Council President Zeke Cohen asked Worley how many of the 492 vacant positions had not been filled in at least 18 months. The commissioner replied it was the 'majority' of them. He said his more aggressive approach to boosting staffing would be 'different' from previous Commissioner Michael Harrison. 'He was my mentor, but I have a different opinion,' Worley said of Harrison. 'I think we will fill these positions within the next three to five years. Because right now, by the end of the year, I think we're gonna have 100 more cops than we have now.' With the department about 80% staffed, the total number of overtime hours worked by BPD employees is expected to drop to 898,000 this year from 914,000 last year. The implementation of stricter overtime request approvals via the human resources software Workday has also helped manage the overload, Worley and Deputy BPD Commissioner Kevin Jones said. The department's proposed $614 million budget for the 2026 fiscal year is a 3.57% increase over fiscal 2025 levels. A decline in state funding from $42.34 million last year to $36.83 million this year has prompted the city to pull considerably more from its operating budget for the police department. The 'Criminal Investigation Division' and 'Compliance Bureau' services received the largest increases, getting about $9.5 million and $7.5 million more than in fiscal 2025, respectively. Anticipated 'Police Patrol' expenses dipped slightly from about $226.5 million last year to $224.5 million this year. Despite the decrease, this service includes $4.2 million more in allocated funds for sworn overtime expenses than was seen in fiscal 2025. Have a news tip? Contact Carson Swick at cswick@
CBS News
2 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Teens arrested in Baltimore with multiple guns, ammo, device to create fully automatic weapons
While Baltimore is seeing record-low homicides, the city is dealing with persistent juvenile crime concerns. Four teenagers were arrested with multiple guns over the weekend. Police said the teens also had a device that turns a semiautomatic weapon into a fully automatic firearm. Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley spoke to WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren about the department's successes and challenges ahead of a pivotal budget hearing Tuesday night. "If you don't put the guns down, we're going to come in," Worley said. "We're going to do an investigation. We're going to indict people. We're going to turn it over to the state's attorney or U.S. attorney or attorney general, and they're going to prosecute you." Four teens arrested From her front porch, Katherine Davis can see the 800 block of North Curley Street where police say four teenagers — ages 16, 17, 18 and 19— were taken into custody Sunday and found with five weapons and ammunition. Their cache included extended magazines and an auto-sear device that makes weapons fully automatic. Commissioner Worley said it can be made using a 3D printer. While Baltimore is seeing record-low homicides, the city is dealing with persistent juvenile crime concerns—including four teenagers arrested with multiple guns over the weekend. Baltimore Police Juvenile crime concerns "We come up with who is driving the violence, who is doing the shooting. All of the wraparound services are offered to them," Commissioner Richard Worley said. Worley told WJZ Investigates all categories of crime are down except shoplifting and said a small number of juveniles are causing the problems. "We had a 13-year-old over the weekend, we caught with a handgun in Cherry Hill," Worley said. "It's just incredible that these kids aren't learning, so there's got to be some discipline for the ones who continue to commit crimes." Last week, WJZ obtained video of what the business owner believes are young people breaking into a Southeast Baltimore restaurant. The week prior, police say a 15-year-old repeat offender on electronic monitoring robbed a 12-year-old at gunpoint and kidnapped him. Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan Bates mentioned that incident in an op-ed published Tuesday, where he wrote, "…We need a system that first and foremost holds juvenile offenders accountable for their actions. This does not include continuing to release these repeat offenders back into the community… ." Worley told WJZ, "We can't continue to put them out there because what's going to happen, we're going to have a tragic event with one of these young people trying to commit a crime and someone who has an open carry permit or whatever it is, they're going to end up getting shot." Record-low homicides The city is seeing success in bringing down the overall number of shootings, with 56 homicides year to date, down 24% from last year to the lowest number ever recorded. Non-fatal shootings are down 25% from 2024, with 128 year-to-date as of Tuesday morning. "We get judged by the one number, the homicide rate, and 56 is still too many for our city, so we want to continue to keep the foot on the pedal, the foot on the gas, and continue to drive down those numbers," Worley said. Metro Crime Stoppers recently publicized $8,000 rewards for several May homicides. "The mayor's office did a fabulous job with cutting down the number of ghost guns coming into the city," Worley said. "Before the lawsuit and the ban on selling in the city, a lot of ghost guns made their way into the city." Police staffing shortage The commissioner said while BPD is still down roughly 500 officers, they have added almost 50 in the past six months. He said he is confident the department can be at full, budgeted staffing levels within three to four years. Back in Southeast Baltimore, asked if she's feeling safer, Katherine Davis said, "I do because I don't bother anybody, nobody bothers me. …I sit on my porch and mind my business, and as long as they mind theirs, I'm good."
CBS News
22-05-2025
- CBS News
Body cam video to be released after man killed in shootout with Baltimore Police
Baltimore Police will share body cam video Thursday after a man was killed in a shootout with officers on May 12. The shootout in the 4600 block of York Road occurred after officers tried to approach 26-year-old Jai Marc Howell. Howell led officers on a chase and pulled out a handgun, firing shots at the officers and hitting a police car. He was pronounced dead at a hospital after being shot by police. Investigation into Baltimore Police shooting The Maryland Attorney General's Independent Investigations Division (IID) is looking into the shooting, as is state protocol. Since they launched in 2021, the IID has investigated more than 70 near-fatal or fatal incidents involving police. About 13 of those investigations involved Baltimore Police. IID officials identified the involved officers as Detective Enger Jimenez, Detective Steven Foster, and Detective Tony Tiburzi. Three officers were on foot and a fourth was in a patrol car during the incident, according to Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley. A gun with an extended magazine was recovered from the scene, police said. "...This is another example of where we cannot and will not have people indiscriminately walking around with illegal guns, and willing to use them and shoot them indiscriminately at police officers in the middle of the day, on a block that is always full of people," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said after the shooting. Baltimore's crime rate declines According to Worley, the area of York Road where the shooting took place has seen some instances of violence recently. Despite this, Baltimore has recorded a drastic drop in violent crime over the past year. In April, Baltimore recorded its lowest number of monthly homicides, according to Mayor Scott. The city reported 13 homicide cases in April 2024 and five in April 2025, a 61.5% drop over one year. Nonfatal shootings declined by 27% between May 2024 and May 2025.
CBS News
29-04-2025
- CBS News
16 teenagers charged with violent crimes in Baltimore over the weekend
Sixteen teenagers were charged with a string of violent crimes over the weekend. The teens range in age from 13 to 17, and three of them are being charged as adults, according to police. Baltimore Police say 11 of the teens have prior arrest records, and two of them have been arrested more than nine times. Seven were released to a guardian. Among the crimes committed are robbery, auto theft, and assault. "It is incredibly frustrating to see young people involved in violent crimes across our city," Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said. "Our officers are working every day to keep our neighborhoods safe, but real, lasting change requires all of us, from our families, schools, community leaders, and the justice system, working together. We cannot arrest our way out of this problem. We need accountability, early intervention, and real support for our youth to break this cycle and build a safer future for Baltimore." Mayor touts decline in crime Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott discussed in an interview with WJZ on April 23 his administration's aggressive efforts to attack crime. Scott said the city has seen a 40% reduction in murders since 2020; shootings are down 43% over that time; robberies are down 23% since last year; carjackings are down 19%.; and auto thefts are down 40%. "We said that we were going to reduce homicides by 15 %, and we did that, we beat it, that is great progress, but we have a lot more building to do together, Mayor Scott told WJZ. Mayor Scott says the approach to decreasing crime numbers and investing in young people is working despite a shortage of nearly 500 police officers. "Statistics will show, unless you have something that connects them with something better, they will revert back to something they did before, creating this cycle that we're seeing over and over again," Mayor Scott said. "The way that we operate now is the way we should have been operating forever, not putting everything on the backs of BPD. There are other things for other agencies to handle, and they have to have investment to do that." Investing in youth and safety Mayor Scott said during his State of the City address on April 21 that youth and public safety are major investments in the city's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026. According to the mayor, the spending plan involves $624.8 million for youth initiatives, including $6.9 million to expand the YouthWorks summer jobs program to 8,500 participants at $15 per hour and funding for two new recreation centers. Public safety would receive $1.2 billion, with full funding for the citywide expansion of the Group Violence Reduction Strategy and continued efforts to transition administrative police tasks to civilian roles, according to the proposed budget.
Cedar News
31-01-2025
- Politics
- Cedar News
FAA indefinitely closes helicopter routes near Reagan International Airport
Join our Telegram FAA indefinitely closes helicopter routes near Reagan International Airport – CNN German MPs reject immigration bill pushed by conservatives… Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley: a man shot… Shooting reported at the North Avenue District Courthouse…
